The invention relates in general to airborne munitions and, in particular, to a fuze that is mounted on the base of an airborne projectile.
U.S. Army studies have shown that the effectiveness of munitions, in particular, medium caliber munitions, can be greatly improved by an airbursting function. Presently, there is no medium caliber ammunition in the U.S. Army inventory that is capable of airburst using a base mounted fuze. The known medium caliber fuzes function on impact rather than airburst. A base mounted fuze is desirable because moving the fuze from the nose to the base has been shown to increase a weapon's lethality.
The present invention provides a base mounted fuze having an airburst function. While the impetus for the invention arose with regard to medium caliber ammunition, the invention is also applicable to large caliber ammunition and to small caliber ammunition, where space permits.